This activity is a short engineering design challenge to be completed by individual students or small teams. A real-world problem is presented, designing buildings for hurricane-prone areas, but in a simulated way that works in a classroom, after...(View More) school club, or informal education setting. Students are given simple materials and design requirements, and must plan and build a tower as tall as possible that will hold up a tennis ball while resisting the force of wind from a fan. After the towers are built, the group comes together to test them. If there is time after testing, which can be observational or framed as a contest between teams, students can redesign their towers to improve their performance, or simply discuss what worked well and what didn’t in their designs.(View Less)

This is a 15-day unit of inquiry-based lessons about the surface features of the Moon and the Earth and how these two worlds formed and continue to evolve. Students participate in real science as they help lunar scientists map the surface of the...(View More) Moon with MoonMappers, an online citizen science project that lets the public analyze real data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The lessons in this unit follow the 5E instructional model. Includes an overview of citizen science, glossary of lunar feature vocabulary, alignment to NGSS and NSES, and featured links.(View Less)

Hurricane Katrina serves as the focus for this lesson on the relationship between sea surface temperatures and hurricane intensity. Students assume the roles of Senior Science Advisors for the Louisiana Environmental Agency to research and plot the...(View More) data used to analyze Hurricane Katrina. Students then apply that analysis to possible future tropical storms impacting the U.S. Gulf Coast. This lesson uses student- and citizen science-friendly microsets of authentic NASA Earth system science data from the MY NASA DATA project. It also includes related links, extensions, an online glossary, and data analysis tools.(View Less)

Using weather data from both satellite and ground-based observations, this lesson challenges students to select a site location for a hypothetical mountain retreat. Students must determine and then justify a building site after gathering, graphing...(View More) and analyzing two sources of data on altitude, atmospheric pressure, temperature and relative humidity. To conclude the lesson, students defend their choice in a formal site recommendation letter to the "retreat developers." This lesson uses student- and citizen science-friendly microsets of authentic NASA Earth system science data from the MY NASA DATA project. It also includes related links, extensions, an online glossary, and data analysis tools.(View Less)

In this problem-based learning module, students work in teams to examine a broad array of information related to water quality in Lower Wheeling Creek and the Wheeling Creek watersheds in Wheeling, West Virginia. This module is part of Exploring the...(View More) Environment.(View Less)

In this problem-based learning module, students focus on issues related to understanding the nature and transmission of the Rift Valley fever virus, a virus that causes the death of large numbers of livestock in Kenya and in much of sub-Saharan...(View More) Africa, and can also infect humans. This module is part of Exploring the Environment.(View Less)

This module include four problem-based learning scenarios related to volcanoes and emphasize different kinds of volcanic hazards and geologic processes. The four scenarios are: whether to build a new high school in the shadow of a restless volcanic...(View More) giant, Mt. Rainier; Kilauea in Hawaii shows signs of activity. What are the prospects for the nearby population?; Mt. Hood is starting to act like Mt. St. Helens did in 1980, but Mt. Hood is just 40 miles from the metropalitan area. How might an eruption impact this populated area?; and America's largest volcano in Yellowstone National Park is stirring. Are we facing an eruption as devastating as a nuclear attack? This module is from Exploring the Environment.(View Less)

In this problem-based learning activity, students work in teams to review the many issues that surround ozone depletion. They will evaluate the current status of the Montreal Protocol, considering the interrelationships of Earth's spheres, including...(View More) the anthrosphere. Students must investigate how an event in one sphere may affect a second sphere, which may, in turn, affect a third sphere. Students should determine if there is a need for revision of the Montreal Protocol and, if so, in what areas. This activity is from Exploring the Environment.(View Less)

In this problem-based learning module, groups of students take on the role of environmental consultants and will research and provide information on the environmental conditions and economic impact that will accompany a developing El Niño. They...(View More) will attempt to report not only on what can be expected from this El Niño with regard to weather, fisheries, and crops, but also on how the impact of the El Niño might be softened. This module is part of Exploring the Environment.(View Less)

In this problem-based learning activity, students will examine opposing views on the Amazon Rainforest and will take a position on land-use and species conservation in one of the last areas of biodiversity on Earth. This activity is part of...(View More) Exploring the Environment.(View Less)